


Dream Session

by justinsbuzz



Series: The end... [7]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Dreamscapes, F/F, F/M, Gen, Marriage Proposal, Therapy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-25
Updated: 2020-08-25
Packaged: 2021-03-06 20:28:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 11,185
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26104960
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/justinsbuzz/pseuds/justinsbuzz
Summary: Steven has an unusual dream about the past week, and he accidentally brings someone along for an emergency therapy session.
Relationships: Connie Maheswaran/Steven Universe, Lapis Lazuli/Peridot (Steven Universe), Ruby/Sapphire (Steven Universe)
Series: The end... [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1509437
Kudos: 5





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah. I'm back, kind of. It's been rough, but i didn't want to leave this without a proper ending. more to come. For now, this one is kind of ambitious because half of the time, it's in 3rd person, and the other half is in 1st Person in Steven's perspective. just something i wanted to try out. but for the most part, it's kind of a rewrite of "Together Forever" but with a better ending.

Dream session.  
(Act. 1)

Steven laid there, pondering this new predicament that he was in. The ceiling was not what it looked like a moment ago. The bed didn’t feel the same either. It felt familiar though. It wasn’t a bed anymore but a couch. And when did he ever have an analog clock that clicked this loudly. The ceiling had a wooden crown molding around the edges. Far too fancy or professional than his room, which had a vaulted ceiling made of wood. He also sworn he had worn pajamas moments earlier too. No… he was no longer awake, nor was this the normal dream. He was early for his appointment with the therapist. around 12 hours early.

Everything was so vivid. The texture of the couch, the position of the sunlight, the mild fragrant smell of an oil infuser. But that’s where the similarities ended. He looked at the wall opposite of the desk where the clock hung. It ticked loudly, but the second hand hasn’t budged. It showed 12:31 on the dot, with no other movement from a stuck second hand. And right across from him, where the door that lead to the hallway into the waiting room would be was nothing. No door. No wall, just a blank, black emptiness. It reminded him of Obsidian’s dreamscape. What this her doing? Why was he brought here of all places? As he sat up, he saw the desk chair was empty. A place where a imposing, yet motherly figure would sit, wearing reading glasses and writing on a notepad marked “mother issues”. There was no lie there. Steven knows he has a lot going on, and has been through a lot more.

‘This was good for me’, he would often think to himself sometimes after polishing off the box of tissues for the month. Priyanka assured him that it was ok to let it out. That office was a second home to him. He felt safer there than anywhere else, but only a close second to the arms of Connie. The thought of Connie ached and cringed inside his heart. It’s been a rough week. It would be easy to dwell on it and let the dark thoughts fester and envelop him. Life, on the other hand, was not easy. Recovery and wellness weren’t easy. Good things are never easy to come by. This was a truth he knew very well. he laid there, pondering more and more. It felt like ages, yet the clock hasn’t moved at all. Dreams are weird like that. What happened next enforced that fact.

A section of the ceiling flipped open, like a trap door from above. And through it came a person. A Therapist. Priyanka. Canned cheers coming from the void rang out as she gently hovered down and sat in the desk chair, looking perplexed, yet curious. For a moment, she looked around, going from the blank wall, to the non-functioning clock, and finally to Steven, who looked nervously at her. Was this really her? Or just a dream version of?

“Um… Dr. Maheswaran?” Steven spoke cautiously. Priyanka stared blankly at Steven before blinking a few times.

“Ooookay. Not the usual dream, which is quite welcoming. Can’t stand to see my bluebell baby on the operating table again. But these work-related dreams are getting out of hand.” Priyanka said, standing up and feeling around. “but this… this is pretty real looking. Even the Steven looks almost on point. Just missing the pinkness.”

She then nonchalantly walked over to Steven and poked him in the shoulder and nose, and studied his face.

“Hmm… I wonder if…” Priyanka spoke before reaching for Steven’s shirt and lifting it up, Inspecting his gem closely. Steven was shocked.

“GAH! No! I’m real!” Steven gasped before pulling his shirt down. He’s had dreams about Priyanka before, but they were mostly either about her stomping on him, yeeting him into the sun, or looking angrily at him while saying how disappointed she was in him, before turning into his mom. “You on the other hand are pretty intrusive for a dream being.”

Priyanka was stunned.

“This Steven sounds lifelike too. Man, this is the weirdest dream I’ve had in ages.” Priyanka said, looking around the room again.

“Your dream? This is my dream! You can’t be r-” Steven stopped in mid-sentence. He realized that this wasn’t the first time he was in another person’s dream, let alone someone he brought into his dreams. “I… I think you might be real.”

“I know I’m real. You, on the other hand mister, are-” Priyanka also stopped in mid sentence before realizing that Steven has some strange and unexplainable powers. “You’re really Steven… aren’t you?”

“I like to think I am, despite the fact that some people think I’m my mom.” Steven said flatly. “But what about you?”

“Steven, your file number is 700819, you’re in love with my daughter, and my second greatest fear is you two running away for a year, and coming back with a +1. First greatest fear being me operating on my own daughter and having her die on me.” Priyanka answered truthfully.

“Okay. For the most part, that seemed like how I think you think like. But that second part really sold me.” Steven replied while nodding. “But why are you here?”

“Why am I here? Why…why am I here?” Priyanka said, looking puzzled. Suddenly, a faint glow came from the desk and died out, revealing a notepad, a pen, and a pair of golden reading glasses. Priyanka walked over to pick up the pad of paper that seemed to have something written on it. “Huh… today's date. ‘talk about the week. You have more time than you think. You’re going to need it.’”

Steven felt the pang again. but instead of it coming from his stomach per se, but from his gem. Even in his dreams, the gem still haunts him physically. Priyanka saw him wince and knew this was something more than the usual session.

“Are you okay?” Priyanka asked curiously. Steven sat straight up.

“What? No. I’m ok. Just the usual.” Steven said, mustering a grin.

“Just the usual?” Priyanka asked again inquisitively. “Steven, I highly doubt that ‘this’ is the usual thing you go through.”

She held her arms out wide, indicating the dream world they had found themselves in.

“Fair point.” Steven admitted, looking over at the clock to see the face of it was replaced with an eyeball that had pink irises and a diamond shaped pupil. But as soon as it noticed Steven’s awareness, it blinked and reverted back to being a clockface. “The pad is right. I do need to talk about the past week, but not like this.”

Steven laid back down and stared at the ceiling.

“Well. I guess this is probably the best place to get to the root of the matter.” Priyanka said, taking a seat in the office chair.

“No it isn’t I didn’t even know how you got here, or how I could help you get out. This isn’t a good place to do a therapy session.” Steven said, sounding frustrated as he stared up at the ceiling. “I’m just screwing things up again.”

“Steven, ever since the beginning of Psychology, people have been trying to find ways to deeply connect to others on a psychological scale. This is the epitome of psychological connectivity. Psychologists of old would fight tooth and nail to get to a place like this.” Priyanka reasoned while checking to see how clean the golden glasses were. “And you’re not screwing anything up. Technically, this isn’t your doing. Or at least not on purpose. But when you say ‘again’, what do you mean?”

Before every session, Steven would usually have the time to mentally prepare himself for the meeting. He would mentally think about things he would want to talk about, and think about how to avoid other topics he felt wasn’t something worth touching on. But since none of this was planned, he had no other choice but to go head long.

“How long do you think we have here?” Steven asked, not sure if there was a general mathematical formula for how time works in the dream state.

“Well, some have said that 5 minutes in the real world is the same as an hour in the dream world. I don’t trust those numbers since time can be a bit of an abstract concept.” Priyanka said. “So, honestly, you either have all the time you need, or until you wake up.”

Stevens gem caused a dull ache feeling to flood throughout his body. It was nice to know that he wasn’t on the clock, but then again, outside forces could interfere with how much time he truly has. It was time to take the plunge. Steven began to speak.

“Well, It all started the afternoon after our appointment…”

My room had 2 fans going at the same time. A freak heatwave decided to hit Beach City harder than it has ever been in a while. Going to the beach would have been an easy option if it weren’t for the already made plans to watch the new version of ‘Camp Pining Hearts’. A pitcher of lemonade and a box of bootleg ‘Cookie-Cat’ ice cream sandwiches later, the credits rolled. Amethyst was in a state of confusion which caused her to say ‘wha’, and ‘bruh’ every so often. Poor Peridot, on the other hand, grumbled and groaned in agitation of the newly revamped spinoff. Clutching at her ‘Camp Pining Hearts’ shirt to the point of ripping it apart, her grumbling became more and more audible to the point of explosion.

“GRAH! What was that?!” Peridot growled loudly.

“Wha?” Amethyst muttered while shaking her head.

“Seriously! What was this pile of festering clods that has just been thrown into my eyes!?” Peridot growled again, before turning her attention to Spinel, who was sitting next to Stevonnie on the bed. Peridot began to plead to her. “Spinel, please! This isn’t how ‘Camp Pining Hearts’ really is! Ignore this rejected pile of garbage and don’t let it turn you off from the original show!”

“No, no. It’s ok. I’ll still watch the original show. But this… I have questions.” Spinel said, squinting at the TV and turning her head slightly sideways.

“Wasn’t Pierre and Percy supposed to be a thing?” Amethyst blurted out without thinking. This drove Peridot further over the edge.

“YES! YES, THEY WERE!” Peridot screeched. “All of my fanfics, my art, my… soul. Destroyed. And now we’re stuck with the camp counselors Paulette and Percy. And all we know about Pierre was that they went away to college somewhere, and now we’re down to those two being… being… GRAHGHDH!”

Spinel and Stevonnie were beside themselves at the rage that came from Peridot. Nearly almost to the point where Spinel nearly clutched onto Stevonnie’s arm, but stopped herself, and sat as still as she could. Stevonnie, on the other hand, had their hands clasped together the entire time, now more so because of the angry green goblin that stood before them, ripping her shirt off in anger. It was a good thing that dad was touring with the folk band S.L.S. (Sadie, Lars, and Shep), Doug was teaching lifeguard emergency procedures to a group of Rose Quartzes, and Priyanka was in a session with Pearl, who was fighting tooth and gem to prove that there’s nothing wrong with closing herself off and waiting for the end to come. The fury of Peridot would have turned a lot of heads. Even now, my gem was aching. And as Stevonnie, it wasn’t too bad. But I knew Connie could feel it too.

“Hey, guys. I think I need to go for a walk. Clear my head and stuff. Can you kind of calm down a bit?” Stevonnie asked, her voice falling on deaf and annoyed ears. “Great. Just… please dont destroy my bedroom.”

“I’ll keep an eye on them, Stev- I mean Con- um… Stev…onnie? Stevonnie! Ah, I get it know!” Spinel said cheerfully, realizing why Stevonnie was called Stevonnie. “Don’t worry. I’ll make sure this place still stands when you get back… mostly.”

Connie and I took a long walk on the beach towards the boardwalk. The frozen yogurt stand that was where an ice cream parlor wasn’t the same, but it was still better than nothing. And it came with more flavors. Strawberry cream and yellow cake were our go to. On the worst days, Connie would take me there, and we would share a medium one. While we were walking there, after unfusing, Connie started asking a lot of questions.

“That’s the pain you were talking about?” Connie asked, sounding worried.

“Well, kind of. This time around it wasn’t so bad. It just ached a bit.” I replied. This didn’t make things easier.

“’An ache’? Steven, it felt like I swallowed a bunch of hot coals. How are you able to deal with that kind of pain?” Connie asked, holding Steven’s hands tightly. “Biscuit, how long has this gone on for?”

The answer to that question could only make things worse, and lying would be futile, since she knows everything about me. Even about how I lie. As we held off the conversation to get our Strawberry cream and yellow cake frozen yogurt, it gave me the chance to think about how I could break the news to her. Sadly, for something like this, a gentle, yet direct approach is the only way to go. We sat down in a secluded area, and continued the conversation.

“Well, promise you won’t get mad?” I asked her, wincing at the anger to come.

“I promise to be rational with my anger.” Connie said flatly. This was as close as I could get to a reassurance that she wouldn’t try to attack anyone in particular.

“It’s been going on ever since… Spinel attacked Beach City and used that scythe on me.” I told her truthfully.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Whoa. Hold the phone. Used a scythe on you?” Priyanka asked, breaking Steven’s flow.

“Well, It was kind of a tool that resets a person's gem. It erases nearly all memory and personality they had before.” Steven said, his gem aching to the point that the walls seemed to be bending around him. All he could do was tell himself that it was a dream.

“An amnesia inducing device. Right. Go on.” Priyanka said, writing down information on a pad of paper.

Steven continued.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Spinel again?!” Connie growled. At least she didn’t flip the table over. Yet.

“It’s not entirely her fault. I mean, how was anyone supposed to know what something like that can do to a person’s body, let alone my body.” I told Connie, trying to reason with her. “It might not even be my gem. It could be just a stomach ache.”

“A stomach ache? Really Steven? You could have said it was an ulcer. But this isn’t a good sign. There could be something wrong with your gem. And I still blame Spinel for it.” Connie grumbled.

“Connie…” I spoke reassuringly, holding her hand. “I know there’s a lot of friction between you two. I wish there was a way to heal things, and I don’t think my spit can take care of something like this.”

“I know, Steven.” Connie told me reassuringly. “It’s just that… the memories there. And she just wanted to build over it!”

“She didn’t know though!” I pleaded to her. “She’s really become low key now. And… it might have something to do with me, maybe.”

“Why? Did you talk to her?” Connie asked.

“Well… not quite.” I said hesitantly. “Honestly It’s less of what I said, and more of what I can do… involuntarily.”

“You mean the glowing thing?” Connie asked.

“Yeah. I think that night really got to her. I wish I never had these powers.” I said, sounding depressed. “I mean, kind of toying around, I have super speed, my strength is a lot more powerful, I just feel really unstable. I don’t like talking about it much.”

“Oh. Well, that’s going to make this next part really hard.” Connie began hesitantly. “Do you know what might trigger these instances?”

“Well, stress for one. Emotional static. Anger. Fear. Dread.” I listed off, my gem giving off a dull ache.

“Ooof. Well, I’ll do what I can to help you avoid that stuff.” Connie spoke. Less than a second later, her phone began to buzz. As Connie looked down at her pocket, she didn’t even need to look at it to know what it was. Both Steven and Connie knew what it was. Cram tutoring session. “Aw man! You have to be kidding me!”

“Yeah… how’s that working out?” I asked, trying to not to turn pink.

“One sound: Bleh.” Connie replied with her tongue out. “The only saving grace is that Patricia is there. She was my only friend in that ever-occurring nightmare known as high school.”

“Ah. Cool.” I said, trying not to sound too rejected. Connie knew me better.

“You know, you could always come with me. I don’t think the tutor would mind if you came with me.” Connie said, trying to cheer me up.

“I dunno. It wouldn’t feel right. Plus, my dad and your parents are trying their best to get me into the tutoring program. I might be able to get in next week” I tried to reassure her. She knows me too well, but she goes with it anyway.

“Well… If you say so.” Connie replied, frowning slightly as she looked at the messages. As she got up, she looked me in the eyes and spoke. “I still feel bad for leaving you here. Can’t I walk you home at least?”

“It’s alright Connie.” I said, smiling slightly in reassurance. “I just need some time to think about things.”

Connie could only sigh.

“Okay. But no dwelling or festering though. Nothing ever good comes from those things.” Connie said before kissing me on the cheek. “Later, Biscuit!”

At that moment, something had hit me. I got up and walked to her.

“Connie?” I asked. She wasn’t any further than a few feet when she turned to see me. our eyes met for a mear moment before I kissed her. A kiss we haven’t shared in what felt like years. Deep, but simplistic. It was as though a mild shockwave had occurred around us, we didn’t care. It was only a moment. As I moved away and opened my eyes, Connie looked very surprised, and blushing profusely at the same time. “I- I’m sorry. I just… we haven’t kissed in a while. And-”

“It’s ok, Steven. I… I know we haven’t. Especially a kiss that powerful. And… wow!” Connie said, stifling a chuckle. “Thank you, Steven! Bye!”

Connie had a broad smile on her face as she turned and started giggling while she ran away. That goofy giggle of hers always kind of grounded me to earth. Reminded me that I was important to her in the real wa-

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Ahem!” Priyanka cleared her throat loudly, breaking Steven’s concentration. Steven turned to look at Priyanka, who just looked around. “Sorry. Something was stuck in my throat.”

“We’re in the dream world, Dr. Maheswaran.” Steven said flatly. “That’s not possible.”

“Well… um… continue.” Priyanka said, pretending to write on her pad of paper.

“Right.” Steven replied, feeling unsure about how she would take the rest of the story.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Connie had run off, giggling as subtly as she could and redder than Ruby on a bad day. As she turned a corner, I became depressed. I wanted to be a part of it, but I didn’t want to intrude. I wanted to be a part of her universe just like she would be a part of mine, but I didn’t think that there would be any room for me and my problems. The half-eaten frozen yogurt started to melt as I looked back down at it. Just as I began to eat, I saw my hands were pink. My gem’s ache had become so subtle, I didn’t even notice. Luckily though, no one else did either. It was a secluded spot for us to eat, so I had that going for me. But looking at the melting treat, I could only feel worse. It was though I was looking at a representation of myself, or just the image of a possibly inevitable result of our relationship. Why couldn’t this stay colder longer? All I could do was shut my eyes and eat it all as fast as I could. The more depressed I got, the more my gem began to fester and ache. Even the inevitable brain freeze was barely on par with it. Regaining my composure, I threw away the container and walked out onto the beach.

It was still hot. My gem ached, and I was alone. The hot sand radiated from the ground, making things worse. I had no other choice but to go back home. On the way back though, I saw Doug teaching a CPR class to a bunch of Rose Quartzes. Any other time, I would have jumped in. But with things being the way they are, I had to stay away, or else my gem would burst. I kept walking without anyone noticing, and made my way to the house.

Bringing in the mail, apart from the usual advertisements and junk mail, there had been more than usual amounts of mail for Connie. Almost all of them being brochures and pamphlets for different colleges. Charm City, Empire City, Sunshine State, Delmarva, Adobe State, Emerald University, the list goes on. But the one that kept popping up was a place called Jayhawk. This was the 5th time they sent Connie a large packet of brochures, pamphlets, and class schedules of all they’re offering. Connie and I had talked about college in the past, and what we would want to do. As I walked back up to my bedroom, Amethyst, Peridot, Lapis, and Spinel seem to be talking about the same thing they were an hour ago, but now in a different room. I just curled up in bed to think about how things use to be. Back then, I felt like he had plenty of time to figure it out. But now, time is slipping by faster and faster. It seems like everyone nearly has their stuff together except me. Garnet is off most of the time with her own thing. I think she resents me going to see you as a therapist. Pearl is tied up in her own little world, or just hanging out with Pink Pearl more often than not. Amethyst spends most of the time helping other gems fit in. the only thing that wasn’t fitting in anywhere, who had no purpose, was me.

Time began to lose meaning at that point. I just wanted to lay there forever. Or at least attempt to sleep the day away. But as I began to doze off, fighting the waves in intrusive thoughts, I heard a knock in the doorway.

“Hey, Steven?” asked a soft voice. I rolled over to see that Connie was back. I had been laying in bed for a few hours. Time had rushed by when I was dealing with intrusive thoughts. “We’re you asleep? I didn’t mean to wake you.”

“No. It’s fine. I didn’t even know that I fell asleep.” I replied as I rolled over to see her. “How was tutoring?”

“It was meh. Not TOO much homework. Or not more than usual.” Connie answered. For a split second, I noticed someone standing behind her. “But I kind of wanted you to meet someone.”

Connie stepped to the side to show another person walking in. This person was slightly taller than Connie as well as slenderer. She wore sweatpants, a magenta sweatshirt, thick rimmed glasses, and a Prussian blue hijab. She looked around cautiously from the doorway before entering. I had gotten out of bed slowly to greet her, but before he could say anything, she began to speak.

“So you’re the infamous Steven Connie’s been gushing about?” The young woman said with a smile. “Connie seems to be spot on. So yeah. Hey, I’m Patricia. But you can call me patty.”

“Um… Steven. nice to meet you.” I replied, feeling stupid that I said my name. She already knew that.

“So Steven, want to help us out with our homework. And by help, I mean goof off, play video games, and finish everything at the last second?” Connie asked in one single breath.

“You mean like the old times?” I asked.

“Like old times, plus 1.” Connie said with a smile. I wanted to do that. Helping them study, finishing homework, and seeing how many marshmallows they can secretly put in Peridot’s hair before she goes feral. But there was another part of me, a large stone I was chained to, that made me think otherwise. I didn’t want to bother them. Cram tutoring was important to Connie. and she’s brought an old friend over to hang out and do homework with. I don’t want to intrude. I wanted to give her what’s best. And right now, I was not at my best.

“Eh… I dunno. It sounds fun, but I don’t want to take you away from something important. I don’t want to get in the way.” I replied, trying to muster a smile. I should have been truthful, cause she could see through me as though I was fully made out of a large diamond.

“Uh… Steven? You okay?” Connie asked, looking concerned.

“Yeah. Totally fine.” I replied trying to sound convincing. “I’m just a little tired is all. It was a hot day.”

“Uh…huh.” Connie said, trying to figure Steven out. But something had told her not to pry too much. All Connie can do is sigh and accept his reasoning. “If you say so. Patty and I will be in my room. if you need to hang out, or chat, or just not want to be alone, you can come in whenever. Okay, biscuit?”

“Y-yeah. Okay. I’ll keep that in mind.” I replied, smiling at the two of them before I go back to sleep. “But you have fun, you two. Good luck studying.”

“Um… yeah. sure.” Connie said reluctantly as she walked away. Patricia, on the other hand looked at Steven’s gem “C’mon, Pats, I should show you around some more. Oof, once last thing!”

Connie looked back at me for a moment and kissed me before leaving the room.

“It’s going to be okay, Steven. remember to breathe.” Connie told me as she starred into my eyes. “I love you, Biscuit.”

“I- I love you too, Strawberry.” I replied, taken off guard from the surprise kiss. I guess this made us even now.

Crawling back into bed, I heard Connie and Patricia’s voice trailing off as they went down the hall. I wasn’t really paying attention, but some parts of their conversation caught my attention.

“So that’s the boyfriend you were gushing about all of freshman year?” I heard Patricia say.

“Yep. That’s Steven. next time you see Carlos, let him know he owes me that $10, now that I have a witness.” Connie replied.

“He’s probably going to want photo evidence and junk. But is he okay, Connie?” Patricia asked.

“Honestly, Pats… I don’t think so. But I don’t want to pry.” Connie replied as he heard the door squeak closed.

I laid there for a while. Thinking about everything. My future. Her future. The Gems. MY gem. All of it. I was falling. I was helpless, and I just wanted some control over something for once in my life. I couldn’t even get any real rest with my gem acting up. This time around, there was a reason. I opened my eyes to see a pair pf pig tails at the foot of my bed. Why must there always be weird hairstyles at the foot of my bed.

“Hello, Spinel.” I groaned. I knew Spinel had been acting more mellowed out. But whenever I saw her, all I could think about are my mom’s mistakes. My mom’s many, many mistakes that I felt like I had to clean up on my own.

“Oh. Steven… did I wake you?” Spinel asked softly. This conversation sounded familiar.

“My gem kept me from getting any sleep.” I replied flatly.

“Oh. Want me to leave you be?” Spinel asked, getting up from the floor.

“No. you’re okay. In fact, I need to talk to you about something.” I replied, sitting up. “Why are you here?”

“Oh… well. Peridot started acting a little crazy. Amethyst and Lapis seem to be adding more fuel for the fire, and I just didn’t want to be a part of it. I wanted to be someplace quieter.” Spinel replied, stuffing her gloved hands into the pockets of her hoody.

“I meant, like, here. On Earth. Why did you come back?” I asked. Spinel took a deep sigh.

“You know how the diamonds can be. Giant, overbearing, way too easy to please, clingy, somewhat obsessive, overbearing again.” Spinel began counting on one hand, and growing an extra finger at the end. “On one hand, I guess I kind of missed being on my own. Weird, right? First time in 6 thousand years I’m surrounded by people and I want to be alone again.”

“Ah.” I said, not sure what to really say. I let her continue.

“They also just remind me of… me. Of my mistakes. Being so clingy and obsessive. It’s probably what drove her away.” Spinel said, stairing off into space for a few moments. “Now I’m here. Partly because I needed a break from them, but also because i… I need to own up to some things. I left pretty quickly, and things never got resolved properly. I owe a lot of people an apology for what happened. Obsession is a miserable thing to have.”

“It’s my mom’s fault. Not yours.” I told her empathetically. “She just abandoned you like that. For 6K years. I know she acted immature and stuff, but that was… that was low.”

“She may have been at fault for leaving me like that, but I drove her away. And all I wanted was to be her friend.” Spinel replied, trying to reason with me.

“That was it though. You were made to be her friend, and she didn’t appreciate you. She just left you behind because she wanted to be like all of the other diamonds.” I told her, my gem beginning to feel hot. “She got what she wanted, but at what cost? She abandoned you, she messed up her original pearl, she got millions of gems shattered. And I have to clean it all up. I have to live up to her hype or else I’ll just be a disappointment to everyone.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Priyanka let out a low groan.

“Steven…” Priyanka moaned. “This… this seems like a major occurrence.”

“It’s the story of my life.” Steven said, slowly shaking his head. “I know I’m not in charge of cleaning her mess, but someone has to do it, and I don’t think the Gems are up to the task. It’s like I have no other choice.”

“I really need to have a talk with Garnet about that. Sorry. Go on.” Priyanka spoke, rubbing the bridge of her nose.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Honestly Steven, they seem to be the disappointment in all of this.” Spinel spoke. “I mean, I was able to get it through my head in the span of a few days that you’re not rose, something they haven’t been able to do in nearly 17 years.”

“What… what does that mean?” I asked, looking at Spinel with contempt.

“It means that me wanting revenge and being obsessive about Pink is one thing, but putting you on that pedestal and demanding you to be like her In every way is just madness.” Spinel replied, but began to look at Steven with terror. “Ste- Steven… I’m sorry. I take that back. It’s not their fault. Please, I’m sorry.”

“What? What’s wrong?” I asked Spinel before looking down. My gem was glowing brighter than normal, and my skin had turned pink. “Shoot. Sorry. Brb. It’s okay.”

I ran out of the room, down the hall, and into the bathroom. Turning on the cold water, I took off my shirt, and splashed my face. I didn’t know too many ways to keep the glow in check. For the most part, splashing water on my face seems to work most of the time. Taking a cold washcloth to my stomach helped as well for the most part. Slow breathing. Ocean tides. Concentrate on the waves. Of all the things I’ve learned about meditation, that trick helped the most. What made it all the more outrageous was that I learned that from Jasper of all people. Once the pink had left, I dried my face and put my shirt back on. Walking down the hallway, I passed Connie’s room, which the door was cracked open slightly. I knew that if I walked past it quietly and quickly enough, I would go unnoticed. Connie had enough on her plate. She didn’t need this.as I did, I overheard Connie and Patty talking briefly. I wanted to keep moving, but my feet froze when I heard Connie speak.

“I can’t believe they’re bugging me like this.” Connie sighed in frustration. “seriously, I can’t deal with them. Not like this.”

“Yeah. This is borderline harassment. They can’t be piling stuff on you like this.” Patty agreed.

“Like, you show the slightest bit of interest, and they just smother you. I don’t know what to do. They’re not giving me a lot of options.” Connie said. I could imagine her shaking her head. “I need to dump them. This is getting out of hand, and I don’t know what to do.”

“You gotta do what’s best for you, C.” Patty spoke.

My fight-or-flight reflexes hit me, causing me to march directly into my room, and shut the door. My hands began to shake wildly as my breathing became more and more shallow. The walls began to breathe back and forth. A loud ringing was in my ears. This was all of the hallmarks of a panic attack. What happened next made things slightly worse. Looking up, I saw a dark figure, perched on top of the headboard like a bird with 1 eye, and slightly lifted eyebrows.

“Heyyyy, buddy. You okay there?” Obsidian asked. “You seem to be blinking a little bit.”

I didn’t want to see her right now. A black-and-white version of Cloud Connie was almost as bad as the real deal. And with my gem going insane, and my skin flashing pink, things could not get realistically any worse.

“Not now, Obsidian.” I told her in a low tone.

“Okay, then when’s your next opening for accepting a little realism and logic into your head, because I sense a ton of irrational thoughts, and it’s not all coming from Peridot's room?” Obsidian asked. I couldn’t keep it together any longer.

“Connie wants to break up with me!” I answered, feeling streams of tears rolling down my face. The anxiety was getting worse, and what happened next didn’t help at all. Spinel, who was sitting backwards on my computer chair, looked at Obsidian and bursted out laughing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Um, Steven?” Priyanka interrupted Steven, sounding panicked. “Might want to start breathing slowly, hon. Cause the walls are doing just that!”

Steven snapped back into the pseudo-reality to the sight of the walls pushing in and out. A high buzzing sound reverberated through the ceiling while the ground began to look as though it was liquid. Steven had to focus hard on anything that calmed him down. All of the sudden, the ringing stopped, and all but one of the walls became stationary, with one of them falling over to show the beach in front of Steven’s house.

“Not bad.” Priyanka said, writing something down in her notepad. “But I do have to say that I share Obsidian and, sadly, Spinel’s sentiment. The idea of Connie breaking up with you is illogical.”

“I know… or at least I know that now. But at the time, everything felt so fragile. So volatile.” Steven said, turning to look out at the beach, focusing on the sound of the waves for a few moments.

“Well, it definitely shows. Did anything else happen this past week?” Priyanka asked. “Anything more drastic than what may seem to be a big misunderstanding?”

Steven sighed and continued.

“Well…”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part 2
> 
> Steven talks about the advice he got, and the fallout of.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yeah. i know. 2 chapters. It's like i'm actually learning to shorten this stuff down to manageable chunks.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Obsidian and Spinel were of no help. They mostly rolled around on the ground and laughed. Long story short, they thought that I was being ridiculous, or that I might have missed something. What I heard at the time was clear as day. Connie was slipping, and I didn’t want to hear those two laughing at me. I needed someone to talk to. Someone who had experience dealing with romantic situations and had given me sage advice in the past. Garnet

I had spent the better part of the week avoiding Connie. I didn’t want to run the risk of her asking if she could talk to me. In the same vein, I also avoided Peridot, Amethyst, and Lapis. Pearl was still not around as usual. And Obsidian and Spinel were strangely absent. Normally, I would try and actively find them with some help. But at that point, I couldn’t care less. Garnet was a little harder to track until a couple of days ago. Connie had already left for her weekly tutoring class, making it easy for me to talk to Garnet.

I had walked down the stairs, about ready to talk to her until a glow of light emanated from the center of the living room, and then faded away. Turning the corner, I saw that I was too late. Sapphire was kissing Ruby on the cheek before running out of the house. For a split second, Sapphire turned to see me standing at the foot of the stairs.

“See you soon, Steven” Sapphire blurted out before flying out the door, leaving me alone with Ruby. Ruby wasn’t the clearest gem I’ve ever met. She means well, but at the same time can be quick to act on things without thinking them through. It was as though Sapphire was the sole owner of a shared brain-cell. I felt bad thinking about that. As of late, Garnet hasn’t been too supportive of me seeing a therapist, but I think that’s because she might feel burned because I would have rather gone to see you, than her. What hurt even more was that sometimes, she was the problem. Garnet was wise, but also indifferent from time to time.

“Um, hey Ruby.” I greeted Ruby, who was wearing a strange scouting hat and a sash with assorted buttons all over it. I was very reluctant to ask her for advice. Maybe today, she could help. “Um, can I ask you something? I need some relationships… advice.”

Ruby’s eyes widened with excitement before she glanced over at the clock on the wall.

“Oh, um, I kind of have a gem scout meeting today. How about you come along?” Ruby asked after instantly calming down.

I went along with it. I figured a walk-through nature might clear my head.

The scout meeting consisted of a few Jasper quartz's, rhodonite (who have become more relaxed ever since she came to earth nearly a year ago), and the Onion gang. Onion and his friends haven’t grown much in the past few years, which would normally worry most people. At this point though, I wasn’t too worried about Onion and his friends. I was worried about Connie and I.

The trek into the forest felt like forever. The summer heat had come early, making the trip seem like it was taking forever. And for a while, I haven’t been able to get a chance to talk to Ruby, who was demonstrating what can, or can’t, be eaten.

“So. This rock.” Ruby said, holding up a regular rock. “This is not edible. And this other rock is ALSO inedible. And that large rock between the trees to the left may look edible, but I can assure you from multiple personal experiences, is not edible.”

While Ruby was pointing to her left, nearly everyone else looked in the opposite direction. Rhodonite and I were the only ones looking at the same direction Ruby was pointing. This had gone on for 10 minutes, and by that time, I was getting a little impatient. I tried to be calm, but the longer the outdoor seminar about ‘what is edible in the forest’ dragged on, the more it felt like Connie was slipping away from me. My thoughts had begun to envelop me before I felt a slight tug on my hand.

“So you wanted to talk to me, Steven?” Ruby asked, snapping me out of my daydreaming.

“Oh. Yeah. It’s about Connie.” I began, sounding awkward. I wasn’t quite sure how to talk to her about this. All I can do is push on. “You see, I kind of feel like we’ve drifting away a bit. Ever since we kind of ‘graduated’ from home studies, Connie’s been getting a ton of mail from colleges that seem to be so far away, they might as well be-”

“I’m going to stop you right there, partner.” Ruby interrupted gruffly. “I know what your problem is. What your REAL problem is. And I have the perfect solution for you.”

“Really?” I asked. I was pretty surprised, and somewhat worried, that she would already have a solution this fast.

“You should marry her!” Ruby cheered out loud.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Steven laid on the imaginary dream couch, unamused, for what felt like forever, while Priyanka wheezed and laughed loudly.

“Oh stars! That was pure Ruby!” Priyanka laughed loudly, as she pounded on the imaginary dream desk. “That was possibly the Rubiest answer to something so simple. Albeit, the worst thing you could ever do, but that’s Ruby for ya.”

“Yeah… worst thing I could ever do.” Steven said, sounding uncomfortable.

It took Priyanka a while to regain composure before she stopped laughing.

“Okay. I’m sorry. Continue.” Priyanka said, sighing and clearing her throat.

“Right. So, I thanked her for the advice and went off to find Sapphire, whom I knew was expecting me. Ruby said she would be on the beach somewhere, teaching the intricacies of fortune telling to a group of other Sapphires who either want to make their fortunes telling people the future, or just what they would want to hear.” Steven said, rolling his eyes, and knowing that what he has to say is only going to make things worse.

“Surely she has better advice for you.” Priyanka spoke briefly.

“Well…”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Marry her, huh.” Sapphire said before sitting there and pondering the dilemma I was facing. But as she thought about it, most of the other Sapphires shifted around where they sat. their eyes were all behind long bangs, but I could sense them cringing uncomfortably, and looking at any other direction than where Sapphire and I were. “Well… Not going to lie, Steven, but that was probably the most typical Ruby answer I had ever heard. I love her so much.”

“Um, yeah. still kind of have the problem of Connie drifting away from me.” I said, wanting to pull away from the marriage idea. “I mean, she’s getting brochures from places as far out as Jay Hawk, and even Morrow Rock. That’s across the country! Even thinking about her being that far away is painful. And what if she says that we’ll try to make it work, but instead we break up because a long-distance relationship wouldn’t have worked while she’s hanging out with some jerk named Chad. I can’t deal with that!”

The Sapphires that were shifting uncomfortably had stopped, looking directly at me. My skin was hot, stinging, and completely pink, while my gem felt like a chunk of hot coal. This change in appearance had even caught sapphires attention, who moved the hair from her eyes as she studied me in my condition.

“This… this is very serious.” Sapphire said calmly.

“Ya think!” I replied aggressively, hot tears beginning to pour from my eyes. “I-I’m sorry. This has me really freaked out right now, and I don’t know what to do! I even heard her talk about possibly breaking up with me. I’m really scared right now. And no offence to Ruby, but the idea of asking Conny to marry me would definitely make things worse. It would probably make it easier for her to dump me right then and there. I would only be holding her back.”

“Steven…” Sapphire spoke, grabbing my hand and holding it. “Steven, she won’t break up with you over that. You two have been attached at the hip for a very long time. You’ve been on your share of adventures, fought tyrannical warlords on two planets, AND in another reality. You two have been dating for years now, and don’t tell Ruby this, but she kind of feels threatened by you two.”

“So her saying that we should get married was a ploy to break us up?” I asked, having the idea that Ruby was smarter than she let on completely dawn on me. “That… would probably be the smartest thing she could pull off. Never would have put it past her.”

“She can have a few good ideas from time to time.” Sapphire said, still holding my hand. “However, the idea of wanting to cement your relationship isn’t that bad of an idea.”

“Wait, what?” I asked.

“Well, when you think about it, marrying someone is a huge commitment. The act alone would be enough to show her that you don’t want her to leave. That you want to be a part of her universe.” Sapphire started to answer. “And it’s not uncommon for people to get married right out of high school. And for the two of you to get married would… would actually… It would work.”

“What?” I asked.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“What?!” Priyanka asked in shock.

“Yeah. My thoughts exactly.” Steven said before continuing the story.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Some of the Sapphires began to shake their heads slowly at first before stopping to think about what Garnet’s Sapphire had to say.

“I can see it clearly. The multiple lines. The paths of multiple timelines, the ways to ask her. The sun setting on the beach. A picnic. A cake. Yes! You do ask her to marry you. It’s all going to work out. And in the end, you two will end up being happy in marital bliss. Oh, this is going to be so exciting!”

Some of the Sapphires in attendance thought about what she had to say before shrugging and slightly nodding. This was all the answer I needed. I knew what I had to do.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A loud groan emanated from Priyanka, who slumped in her dream office chair, and gently hit her forehead with the pad of paper she was writing notes down on.

“Yeah… she said that.” Steven said, rolling over to face the back cushions of the couch, and feeling embarrassed.

“Oh man, Sapphire, Why?!” Priyanka groaned. “You were supposed to be the keeper of the golden brain cell between the two of you, not the chucker of brain cells into the oceanic void.”

“Yeah. I know.” Steven groaned.

“Please… please tell me you didn’t.” Priyanka groaned.

“Okay.” Steven said as they sat there in silence for a few moments.

After a bit, Priyanka summoned a small paper bag and began to breathe into it.

“Yeah. I know. And I was desperate.” Steven said as Priyanka accidentally blew too hard into the bag, and popped it.

“Steven… No.” Priyanka said, shaking her head and massaging her temple. “Why didn’t you just wait for the appointment? Heck, why didn’t you just straight up talk to Connie about this?”

Steven, at that point, rolled back over and sighed.

“I was scared, and desperate, and I’m not going to sugar coat this, I was being an idiot.” Steven explained. “I didn’t want to lose Connie. and I would have done anything to still be a part of her universe. Even if it meant… yeah.”

“No…” Priyanka groaned as Steven continued his story.

“Yeah…” Steven said, feeling both embarrassed and guilty. He then resumed the story.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

At this point, my mind was already made up. When you have nearly a dozen gems with the power to see the future give a nod towards asking someone to marry you, it kind of made me feel as though I had no other choice. Fate drew me to getting a red and blue glow bracelet and configuring it into an infinity symbol. It dragged me to the bakery where I ordered the cake, made the biscuits, the jam. It all felt right. Like it was something I was supposed to do. Sapphire might have been on to something. By that afternoon, the picnic spot was all set up. Rose petals and bluebells surround the area around the blanket. Candles would have been a bit much though. As it was, it was nearly completed. There was one thing missing though.

“This may be the strangest trust exercise we’ve ever done.” Connie said, chuckling as I lead her down the beach. “But in all seriousness, why the blindfold?”

“Because it’s a surprise.” I told her.

“The Blindfold is the surprise? Huh. Strange.” Connie replied jokingly. “You know, if you wanted the blindfold to be a surprise, you should have put a different blindfold, because this is kind of spoiling it.”

“No. That’s not the surprise.” I said

“Oh? Then what is?” Connie asked.

“You’ll see.” I teased.

“Well, since I’ve got your attention, kind of, I need to talk to you about something.” Connie said, causing me to nearly trip over my own feet. “Whoa, careful.”

“It was a rock, I’m okay. We’re almost there. And… maybe hold off on that talk?” I asked Connie nervously.

“Um, okay?” Connie replied. “But how much further do we have left to go? I doubt that this strange walk on the beach was the surprise you wanted to show me.”  
“Well, that’s not the surprise.” I answered, stopping to take Connie’s blindfold off, revealing a path of flower petals leading to the picnic spot. The Biscuits and strawberry jam were placed in the middle on a bed of bluebell flowers along with the cake box, and Steven’s guitar was propped up against the cliff. “This is!”

“Wow…” Connie silently gasped. “Wait… is this the reason why you were avoiding me for nearly a week? To plan this? Steven, your adorable biscuit!”

“Well, yeah… kind of.” I replied, feeling a pang of guilt for avoiding her, but not because of this. “Actually… Connie. I needed to talk to you too. I know that we’ve hit a couple of rough patches recently.”

“Wait, what? When?” Connie asked, already sitting down and putting some jam on a biscuit.

“Well, with all of the college advertisements coming in, and brochures from places that are really, REALLY, far away, I know the future kind of seems a bit of a mystery.” I answered while attempting to tune my guitar.

“Well, yeah, the future is always a mystery. But I don’t think there’s been any rough patches between us. I mean, there was the whole ‘you-avoiding-me-for-nearly-a-week’ thing, but apparently it was because you wanted to set this up.” Connie said before eating a jam slathered biscuit. “But I have a feeling there was more to you avoiding me.”

“Well, actually, yeah. there was.” I replied. “I know that my powers are going haywire. And that sometimes, I can be a little… much. Sometimes, I guess I smother you, or bug you a lot.”

Connie’s face contorted into one of absolute confusion.

“Wait… when did you… wha?” Connie stuttered, putting down the half-eaten biscuit.

“It’s okay. I’ve thought this through. And, even Garnet would agree with this since technically it was Ruby and Sapphires idea.” I said, putting the guitar down and picking up the cake box. “For the past year, I’ve kind of been out of whack. My gem acting out of control. My powers going haywire. But whenever I’m with you, or whenever we’re Stevonnie, all of those problems seem to go away. Connie, I want to be a part of your universe as well, just like how you said a long time ago that you wanted to be a part of mine. I know I can’t go to college with you in Jay Hawk, but… maybe Stevonnie can?”

“Steven, I think my braincells are revolting, and I don’t mean that in the way that I’m beating myself up. But honey, what are you saying?” Connie asked, looking both confused and curious.

“What I’m saying is Connie…” I began, as I opened up the cake box showing a white cake with the words ‘Together forever’ written in blue and red frosting, and two glow bracelets joined together. “Will you marry me and become a permafusion like Garnet?”

Connie looked as though her huge brain just broke. The silence was deafening, and the air grew tense.

“Um… sorry. What?” Connie said, shaking her head and trying to return to reality.

“Will… will you marry me… and become a permafusion?” I asked again, feeling more nervous. Connie blinked a few more times and sighed.

“Steven. What’s wrong.” Connie asked, looking at me with a serious glance.

“What? Nothing… nothing’s wrong…” I lied.

“Steven, you avoid me for a week, leaving me feeling kind of nervous and scared for you, and you come back with a wedding proposal. This isn’t normal.” Connie spoke as she moved closer to close the lid on the box. “I mean, we’re WAY too young to run off and get married. And being a permafusion honestly wouldn’t be great for us. I love being Stevonnie, but I also love being myself as well. But seriously, Steven… what’s wrong?”

I felt a few tear drops fall from my face as I tried to keep myself from crumbling. But before I could say anything, Connie’s cell phone rang.

“Oh jeez, Pat’s. Not now.” Connie said in a worryingly tone. she took one look at her phone and gasped. “Shoot. Study session. I forgot all about it. Why now?!”

“It’s okay.” I said flatly.

“What?” Connie asked.

“It’s okay. You need to study. I… I understand.” I said, trying to keep a straight face.

“Ye- nope. Not okay. None of this is okay. Steven, I can see you hurting. There’s something seriously wrong here.” Connie said, sounding even more worried. “And even your gem is glowing brightly. Erratic behavior, glowing gem, sudden apathy. That’s the three-point standard indicator of there being something wrong in Steven’s universe. Talk to me, please.”

“No. It’s fine. I’m okay. You should go and study. I’ll be fine. Rejection is just a part of life… I think.” I said, trying to sound as normal as possible.

“Rejection? Steven… I didn’t say no. It’s more of a ‘not now’.” Connie said as she hugged me tightly. “Steven. Please. What’s up?”

“I’m…I’ll be okay.” I told her. “Really. I am. I’ll put this stuff up. You should go.”

Connie looked at me with defeated eyes. She knew as well as I that there was something wrong, but as of right now, there’s little she could do to open me up. All she could do was look me deep into my eyes, as though she was looking for some clue or a sign to help him. but when she found none, she latched her arms around Steven and hugged tightly.

“Please… don’t leave me in the cold.” Connie whispered into my ear.

“I’m okay. I’ll talk to you later.” I whispered back.

Connie pulled away slightly to give me a small kiss. She held my hands tightly before letting go.

“Okay… bye.” Connie whispered, looking at me deeply with her soft, earthy brown eyes before walking away.

“Bye.” I replied to Connie, who was slightly dragging her feet on the sand.

I had screwed up completely. I felt it in my bones. I was filled with despair at the feeling that this might be the end, that I just made it easier for her to let go. But at the same time, I was angry, furious, that Ruby and Sapphire had given the worst advice imaginable. I trusted them. Both of them, as well as Garnet. She had to have known what was going on. She could of helped prevent this from happening. I thought about how Ruby and Sapphire were having a laugh, or how Garnet was smiling slightly while sitting on the couch, knowing that I had screwed up completely. She was probably expecting me to run home crying, hoping I would talk to her about all of this. Be the one to pick up all of the pieces. My skin began to feel hot again. My gem ached. I didn’t care. Just more feelings I’m going to have to contend with. Even the new feelings in my physical bones. Aches, pains, stress. I gave up. I wanted to let go. At that moment, I fell backwards into the sand. But as I finally hit the ground, the earth and sand beneath me shook. Objects were thrown into the side of the cliff. The blanket was shredded to bits by the brief shock-wave. The guitar made a strange twang amidst the booming sound as it was shattered against the rocks. By hitting the ground, I ended up creating a large, deep crater. But even then, I didn’t care. The sky was getting dark. the sun wasn’t going to set for a few more hours. The clouds were rolling in. Spring rain. I still didn’t care. Maybe the rain could hide the tears. But a few moments later, I heard running footsteps coming close to the crater. A familiar face poked their head into the wide hole in the ground before they slid down the side. Connie, but more distraught than before.

“STEVEN!” Connie exclaimed, looking around before looking at Steven, inspecting him for injuries. “What happened? And I swear if you say that you’re fine one more time, I’m going to drag you out of here by you’re an-”

“I’m not.” I said flatly, tears streaming down the side of my face. “I’m not alright. Far from it.”

“Yeah, you could say that again.” Connie spoke, shaking her head and looking terrified. “Steven, please. Talk to me. What’s wrong?”

“Everything. anything. All of it. All of THIS is wrong.” I said, my voice cracking as I threw my hands into the sky. “The future is a total nightmare. Pearl had redrawn into themselves, Garnet is giving out terrible advice, Amethyst is helping literally anyone but me, Spinel is pretty much living with us, and you’re going to be going away to college soon, and you want to dump me. Everything is wrong.”

Connie squinted her eyes, trying to make sense of everything Steven had said.

“’Dump you’? Why would I want to do that? Why would I EVER do that? Where is this coming from, Steven?!” Connie exclaimed, a tear rolling down her face.

“You said so yourself. I’ve been bugging you too much. Putting everything on you, smothering you to the point that it’s almost like I’m harassing you with my problems.” I began to reply, the tears coming down even more. “I wasn’t giving you a lot of options. And you wanted to dump… me. Even Patricia said that you need to do what was best for you. Asking you to marry me… that was probably the last straw. I just didn’t want to lose you.”

Connie blanked out for a few moments before she started to giggle, then go into full blown laughter. I began to feel worse and worse until Connie spoke.

“Oh my gosh, Steven! Yep. We’re definitely a couple, and we’re a couple of goofs.” Connie said as she laid down right next to me. “Your sneaky little biscuit! Listening on to some girl talk. Spying on girls. You could have just come in!”

“So you could dump me sooner rather than later?” I asked flatly. Connie bopped my nose before holding my hand.

“No, you goof. So you can join in on me and Patty complain about how Jay Hawk had been sending me enough brochures to make a large tree.” Connie replied, smiling, but also looking worried. “Steven… biscuit bae. My love. I’m never going to freaking dump you. Especially now. And when i said dump, i meant dump Jayhawk from the list. They were already at the bottom of the barrel, but now, they’re not even worth thinking about.”

“But… Why keep me around? All of these problems. All of this angst and freaky stuff. It’s just… isn’t it too much for you?” I asked her. “Aren’t I a little too much?”

“Steven, we’ve been on multiple planets, fought things that no one would ever dream of, been through one form of weirdness after another. You are far from too much. You… you’re perfect. You’re going through a lot of pain right now, and I’m not going to shy away from it.” Connie said with a deep sense of determination in her voice.

“But why won’t you… marry…” I began to say before realizing how ridiculous I sounded.

“Because we’re still kids, and we have a long time before we should even think about doing everything in that wedding scrap book of yours. Maybe… 24-25?” Connie replied. “Kind of want to get my BA in something. Not sure what. Really secure a future for us. For now though, I want to help you through this.”

“But wouldn’t I be holding you back?” I asked, wiping away some of the tears.

“You would be holding me back by keeping things like this to yourself. By avoiding me. not talking to me. Steven, we’re a team. And when you hurt, I hurt. When I’m struggling with things, you struggle alongside me.” Connie replied, squeezing my hand tightly. “We’re a package deal. And there’s no way I’m going to go to a college that far away from you. I’m not going to leave you behind. Even if it means we have to sit on a grassy hill one evening, I gently hold your hand and you turn into a baby, so I could carry you around wherever I go.”

“I can’t believe you still remembered that.” I said as I chuckled at the memory.

“You never forget the first time you change a diaper for the first time.” Connie said.

“Wait, WHAT?!” I exclaimed, shooting upright, and feeling a deep sense of dread.

“Relax, it was no big deal. I was just changing a baby’s diaper. A baby that just happened to have been you.” Connie replied, both trying to reassure me, while trying to make a joke. “It’s okay, Steven. Besides, it was decent practice for the future, as both possibly being a babysitter, and also being a mom. But still… I have a lot of good memories, and I’m not going to throw it all away because you’re going through something major. I’ll be by your side no matter what, Steven.”

“But what did you want to talk to me about then?” I asked, wiping away the remaining tears.

“Well… Since we’re having a hard time trying to get you into the study program, Patty and I thought about maybe teaching you what we’ve been learning. Maybe give you an edge when it comes to studying, as well as getting you a proper GED.” Connie began to reply, seemingly beating around the bush about something. “So… I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind having me and maybe Patricia as your tutors.” 

I began to smile. For the first time in a long while, I was genuinely smiling.

“I couldn’t ask for anything more. But I do have one question for you though.” I began to speak more clearly.

“What’s that?” Connie asks.

“Will… will senpai notice me?” I asked, trying to widen my gaze as much as possible. This caused Connie to snort loudly and laugh.

“Oh stars, Steven… I missed that.” Connie said while laughing.

“I missed you.” I replied, still holding Connie’s hand.

“Think we should head back home before it rains?” Connie asked, looking up at the overcast skies.

“Yeah. probably would be best.” I replied, after standing up, and helping Connie to her feet.

“Let’s see what’s left of the cake. We might not be getting married right away, but cake is cake.” Connie said, shrugging her shoulders.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“So, that was that. We walked home before the rain hit with a box of mushed cake that we ate for dinner while everyone else was busy with their own thing.” Steven said, sighing as he finished the story. Priyanka could only sit there and slightly moan.

“Well… for the record, marriage cannot solve everything. in fact, sometimes it makes things worse.” Priyanka said, sitting back upright in the chair. “And I’m glad that you two resolved your issues, but there’s the bigger matter at hand of why you would do that in the first place.”

“As I said, it was a stupid move. And we did end up resolving it.” Steven said, his hands clasped together on his lap.

“But why though? What made you really think that she would dump you?” Priyanka asked.

“I… I don’t know.” Steven said, beginning to sound more confused and somewhat distraught. Priyanka can sense this.

“Steven. when was the last time we did a full physical on you?” Priyanka asked.

“I’m not sure.” Steven replied. “But what do you mean by full physical?”

“Everything from x-rays, blood-work, full physical checkup.” Priyanka replied. “Come to think of it… have you ever had one before?”

“Well. No.” Steven replied. “Normally, whenever I get sick, or there’s something wrong, Pearl and Garnet would take care of it. But for the most part, I don’t think I’ve ever had one.”

Priyanka sighed heavily.

“Okay… Since this isn’t really a therapy appointment, I’m going into full ‘mom-mode’ and just going to say that I don’t want you and Connie being alone in the same room.” Priyanka spoke, taking Steven aback. “Not because I don’t trust you, but because I don’t trust your gem. And to figure out what’s wrong with your gem, we’re going to need to do a full physical. No butts except the one poking out of your hospital gown… well… actually, no. we have gowns that actually fit properly, but you get the point. Same time as our therapy appointment. Next door over. We’re going to get to the bottom of this.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyeah. this is going to be a bumpy ride.  
>  Also, sorry for any misspellings and stuff, but i haven't been feeling the best as of late. past few months have not been kind to me or my mind.

**Author's Note:**

> So... i've been gone for about 5 months. didn't want to, but some troubling things have been happening... everywhere. I wrote this one a few months ago, but didn't bother posting it out of fear of ridicule and stuff. but at this point, for me, i don't think i care much about that anymore. i just want to tell my story, a weave of canon and AU, and i didn't want to leave it unfinished. there are more stories coming up in the coming days. I've written alot in the past 5 months (mostly in the past 2), but i never got around to publishing them until now.


End file.
